Soumyadeep Bhattacharyya

Drama

1.0  

Soumyadeep Bhattacharyya

Drama

THE HIVE

THE HIVE

6 mins
318


Day 1 


There was this movie I had seen a long time back and it had this line about a man jumping off a skyscraper, and as he went past each floor he reassured himself by saying: "So far so good, so far so good, so far so good... it's just about the landing." I had always found it kinda hilarious, like even now standing on the ledge, I'm laughing like a fucking lunatic. I had always been curious about death from a real small age, maybe because of my dad, I guess. He always said he wanted to be an artist, he said he felt it in his guts. He wasn't lying you know, like this one day he ate a crab and felt a burning pain in the belly. A day later the x-ray report showed that the crab's claws got hold of his gut, the doctor said he oughta go for the surgery. Seven days from the day he ate the crab, the doctor came out of the I.C.U with a piece of bad and good news. The bad news being that my father had spilled his gut and had passed away. The good news being the man really had art in his gut, which is now spilled all over the bedsheet and man, you won't even believe how much the highest bid was at the auction.


But honestly, I didn't really care much about the bedsheet, some hive tycoon bought it for his hive and that did finance my education and all. What really intrigued me was death, it still does. I mean I'm not depressed or anything, as a matter of fact, I don't really feel anything anymore. I mean, standing here on the ledge of the tallest hive in the block, just one step away, and I can have all my answers in perhaps a second maybe. But not today I guess, I have got a presentation to submit tomorrow and also I've peed my pants so I think I am afraid of heights.


Day 2 


The thing about working at the tallest hive in the block is you get to see all the hives beneath you when you stand at the ledge. And from here each hive looks the same, like a large complicated Rubik's cube which has multiple Rubik's cube inside it called cubicles. I think maybe that's what each hive is, just when you've solved the cube you realize it doesn't matter, you just get to sit in a bigger cube, and it's nothing more than a goddamn cube.


There's this creepy smiling emoticon drawn at the entrance of my hive which says, " A good employee uses his head at the right place". I had never noticed it until now, I bet none of the other working bees has. I'll probably aim for it the day I stop wetting the ledge, not today it seems.


Day 3


There's this pink slip handed over to the employees who get fired from the office. I've been always curious why such a soothing color is referred for something, maybe not so soothing. Perhaps it is meant to say you're free from the prison, go on, fly now birdie. I've been counting them since day 1 at the ledge, as in people who are getting fired, you can spot them from up here just by their pace and stooping head. It's funny how they finally see the emoticon and the message with it while they are leaving the hive for one last time with their stooping head. Maybe it's there for them only, maybe finally they'll use their head in something worth using. Maybe not.


I've been reading this book which says, " How to be what you want to be in 7 days ". I remember when I was a little boy I wanted to be a rose with thorns of chocolate, then as adolescence crept in I wanted to be Paleontologist, by adulthood I wanted to be a Film-maker. Now I'm here in the hive, currently I want to open a flower counter handling each one fired a bouquet with a message card saying goodbyes in foreign languages, I'd prefer french if I was to depart from the hive. Or maybe I'll be the hive manager and hire one of the fired employees to do the job with bouquet and the card. I'll probably hire a good looking lady, it's good to see a lovable face before you depart. I'll bring a pair of pants with me from tomorrow, can't keep on wetting them, it's damn embarrassing.


Day 4


I've befriended a pigeon here on the ledge. I haven't had a friend for a long time now, so it seemed kinda awkward at first, all this socializing and stuff. Seems pigeons get attracted to human piss, or at least this one does. It has a black spot in between her eye just above the beak, kinda remind me of my love who had this cute little mole in between her eyes. Probably was gonna name her (the pigeon) after my love but she flew away with another pigeon, just like my love.


I observed the bedsheet art of my dad at the wall of my hive. They named it, "Cry of the crab". My dad too used to work here, in this hive. Which made me think, the bid from the tycoon, was it just a salary from an employer to an employee? Or did he knew or does he even know, that this so-called "Piece of work", came from just another worker bee of his hive? Been hearing rumors about the tycoon willing to buy a floor art, just wondering how it would look from up here. And also I just realised I've stopped with the peeing and finally.....ah shit !!! Here we go again.


Day 5


Two pigeons are cooing at the ledge. The roof is empty, and the ledge is dry, not a single drop of water.


Day 6 


There's an ashy tinge on the city skyline from the smoke of a hive on fire nearby, it does look pretty awesome from up here. There's this burning smell in the air, smell of burning corpse and whatever else is left of the hive. I do recognize the smell, my father went off like that remember ?


I guess they must have really loved my presentation or why else would they decide to promote me to a larger cube. I used a picture of my dad's bedsheet art in the background, my bee mates asked me what it was, poor creatures didn't really have the time to look up to check the art at the hive. That's one thing the hive does to you, you don't look up or down, you just look straight, at your cubical screen, just where you need to. Well, I guess I'll be making a hell lotta more nectar now or maybe not. I noticed I've stopped wetting the ledge.


Day 7 


The roof is empty and the ledge is dry. It seems like any other busy day at the hive, with worker bees moving in and out of the hive in haste. The corpse lying over the creepy looking emoticon seems to have squished his head. A girl, in her late teens, wearing rose-colored specs in school uniform, put a chocolate crown of thorns and a card, which reads "Au Revoir", at the rear of the corpse. 


The corpse spill acrylic fluids from its wounds which turns out to be a beautiful floor art, the poor worker bees fail to notice the art. Maybe one day some hive tycoon would notice it. Maybe he'll name it "Death Dream of a Bee" or "Soul of the Hive". Or maybe not. 


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